On the morning of September 10, China Medical Board opened the doors and welcomed guests to its new Beijing office, located in the Qing Dynasty courtyard on the campus of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH). Education Vice Minister Lin Huiqing and PUMCH Zhao Yupei hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony, joined by CMB President Lincoln Chen and CMB Trustees Wendy O’Neill and Fred Hu. Later in the day, more than 100 guests attended an opening reception, conducted in the style of a Chinese nuan fang (house-warming), as CMB family, friends, and neighbors all gathered together to celebrate the new quarters.

The new office symbolizes a profound transformation. CMB was launched in 1914 by the Rockefeller Foundation to introduce western medicine into China through Peking Union Medical College. Today, PUMCH is recognized throughout China for providing quality health services and skilled clinical doctors and nurses, and CMB has embarked on a second century of philanthropy in Asia. Medical institutions in China and Southeast Asia are now sources of growing expertise, giving CMB new partners who can help advance shared interests in equitable health policies, effective medical education, and global health.

The design of architects Mo Ping and Gerald Szeto aims to capture the interplay of traditional and modern influences, reflecting the original vision of John D. Rockefeller, Jr. who wanted to highlight the beauty of Chinese art and architecture, while constructing a modern hospital and efficient offices. This interplay of traditional and modern influences suggests CMB’s century of collaboration in China and the contemporary challenges it addresses with its partners in Asia.